Its important to know these basics before continuing:
^S = CTRL-S pause ouput
^Q = CTRL-Q unpause output
^O = CTRL-O ignore output
^U = CTRL-U clear input
^C = CTRL-C quits a job
^F = CTRL-F completion (try <ESC> too)
^T = CTRL-T Job Status
^\ = CTRL-\ When running 'LOGOUT' use this to close TELNET
This document is written assuming that the reader has a basic
understanding of the UNIX system. However, it is not really
necessary to have any system background when learning TOPS-20.
This is also not meant as an all in one document either.
TOPS-20 is a multiuser operating system designed specifically
for the 36bit DEC PDP-10 (DECSYSTEM-20) mainframe computer.
The USER level is called EXEC (similar to the UNIX 'sh').
Above that is ENABLE, but we will just talk about the USER
level in this document.
EXEC is extremely interactive, infact, tcsh is based off of
an earlier EXEC in TENEX/The TOPS-10 operating system,
(hence, tcsh is called TENEX C Shell). However, tcsh is
broken in the most important ways:
EXEC has command completion via <ESC> or ^F
EXEC has command recognition (use ? to have EXEC tell you
mapped completions)
CMD JSYS, the interactive bit of the MONITOR ('kernel')
supports real job control. You can DETACH and ATTACH to
any JOB or TTY you choose. Also, you can PUSH and POP
between EXEC levels.
Typically, when TOPS-20 is spewing output to your screen it
will send an XOFF to your TTY (pause) when you are ready
to continue type ^Q. If you don't care about the output
and want your job to continue without your interaction,
just hit ^O. You can also ^C or ^Z to quit or exit a
programme or job.
TOPS-20 supports a hiearchical filesystem. PS: (primary
storage) is the system's main device (similar to / or root).
Directory paths are seperated by '.' .. for instance, say
your LOGIN was 'SMJ'. Your home directory would be:
PS:<SMJ> (/smj)
Say there was a subdirectory within your home directory
called LISP:
PS:<SMJ.LISP> (/smj/lisp)
TOPS-20's file system supports file versioning and
supporting two level file deletion. Something
that UNIX seriously lacks. Files are made up of
three components:
FILENAME.EXTENTION.VERSION
The Wildcard * can be used for instance:
@directory PS:<SMJ>*.*.*
Would list ALL files in that directory, if you only gave
a *.*, then the current generation of ALL files would be
listed.
QUICK AND DIRTY COMPARISONS:
UNIX TOPS-20
-----------------------------------------
talk TALK
mesg n REFUSE LINKS
mesg y RECEIVE LINKS
ls DIRECTORY
ls -la VDIRECTORY
cat TYPE
rm DELETE (EXPUNGE)
mkdir BUILD
rmdir BUILD
who SYSTAT
ps SYSTAT
passwd SET DIRECTORY PASSWORD
chmod SET DIRECTORY PROTECTION
SET FILE PROTECTION
man HELP
profile LOGIN.CMD
send SEND
mail (sending) SEND
mail (reading) MM
@SET DIRECTORY PASSWORD <LOGIN> ;where LOGIN is your LOGIN.
2. Does it have to be UPPERCASE?
no. TOPS-20 assumes you are using a printing TTY when you
connect via the DZ11 terminal server. To set up your
terminal options, use the 'TERMINAL' command. Typically
you will put these TERMINAL commands in your 'LOGIN.CMD'
@TERMINAL NO RAISE ;this will set lowercase
@TERMINAL ? ;this will give you a list of TTY options
3. How do I get more HELP?
Read this file again. Type @? and @HELP ?
4. What editors are available for TOPS-20
Lots! Currently we have SED, EDIT10 and TV (video TECO).
I will add EMACS, TECO and vi when I can.
